Ranking the top 10 UFC fighters ahead of UFC London

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20 March 2026 at 18:06

Hello everyone, and welcome back for another week of rankings in the UFC. With UFC Vegas 114 being one of the best fight cards all year, it was fun for all of us UFC fans. With UFC London this Saturday, there are no fights that will affect these rankings, other than the main event, which could land either Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy a title shot. That being said, let’s get to the rankings for this week. Have a great day, everyone, and may the fights be with you.

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10. Joshua Van:

Dec 6, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, UNITED STATES; Joshua Van (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Alexandre Pantoja (red gloves) during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Joshua Van remains at the tenth spot as he gets ready for his next fight, which is on April 11th at UFC 327. His opponent will be Tatsuro Taira, who punched his ticket by submitting Hyun-sung Park and knocking out Brandon Moreno, who lost to Lone’er Kavanagh at UFC Mexico. Look for this match to be a banger with everyone saying that Taira will be the new champ. I don’t agree, but my official pick will not be made until the Fight Club show that week.

9. Petr Yan:

Petr Yan did the unthinkable by defeating Merab Dvalishvili in their title match at UFC 323. Yan now moves up to ninth overall this week as part of the shake-up I’ve wanted to do after UFC 324 and UFC 325. However, even though Yan won the title, he will most likely be handing it back to Dvalishvili in their rematch sometime in the future. That may be a bold call, but that’s what we do in the Fight Club of Pain.

8. Max Holloway:

Max Holloway lost his BMF Championship to Charles Oliveira, which now opens things up for Holloway. With Topuria vs. Gaethje in June, I could see Holloway asking for a title shot against the winner of this match. Holloway has fought both of these athletes, but Dan from the Fight Club of Pain always says that Holloway deserves a rematch in his own division, instead of making a weight cut like last time, to fight Topuria.

7. Charles Oliveira:

Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira is the new BMF Champion in the world after systematically taking apart Max Holloway at UFC 326, last Saturday. With Topuria already scheduled to fight in early summer, you could see Oliveira defend his BMF title against Conor McGregor sometime this fall. I feel that with all the online banter that has been going on, this fight makes sense for Oliveira at this stage of his career.

6. Merab Dvalishvili:

Jan 18, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Merab Dvalishvili (red gloves) celebrates after winning a UFC bantamweight title fight against Umar Nurmagomedov (not pictured) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Merab Dvalishvili lost his title to Petr Yan in the main event at UFC 323. Unlike their first matchup, Dvalishvili didn’t secure as many take-downs as they did in their first fight, which led to Yan smacking him up till he was bloodied. There are already whispers in the wind that the rematch will be scheduled soon, so until then, we’ll wait for the third saga in this feud. For now, Dvalishvili is my sixth-ranked fighter on this list.

5. Alex Pereira:

Alex Pereira stays at fifth on this list with so much more potential for him in the future. Of course, Pereira won his title back at UFC 320 by finally throwing his reverse punch, which hit Magomed Ankalaev so bad that his knees buckled immediately. Since then, Pereira has vacated his title, which is now up for grabs between Jiri Procházka and Carlos Ulberg at UFC 327 on April 11th. For Poatan, he’ll be facing Ciryl Gane on the White House card on June 14th for the Interim Heavyweight Championship. CHAMA!

4. Khamzat Chimaev:

Khamzat Chimaev stays at the fourth spot with a fight finally scheduled for him once Ramadan is done. That fight will be against Sean Strickland, who knocked out Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston. Since then, Strickland has launched numerous attacks on social media that gave Dana White no choice but to give him another title shot. That fight will happen on May 9th in New Jersey, at UFC 328. You can expect a war in this match, so be ready.

3. Alexander Volkanovski:

Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski moves up to third as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, after defeating Diego Lopes at UFC 325. Now that we’re past that match, Volk has said that he wants to fight someone who deserves it. Jean Silva looks like he could get a shot this year, but that will only happen once the match between Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy happens. That match was scheduled yesterday for UFC Fight Night in London, on March 21st.

2. Ilia Topuria:

Jun 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ilia Topuria (red gloves) prior to the fight against Charles Oliveira (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Ilia Topuria has slipped to second on this list after Islam Makhachev dominated Della Maddalena. However, Topuria is back and will be headlining UFC Freedom 250, which is happening at the White House on June 14th. His next opponent is none other than Justin Gaethje, who won the interim Lightweight Championship against Paddy Pimblett.

1. Islam Makhachev:

Islam Makhachev is now the number one, pound-for-pound fighter in the world, after he easily dispatched Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. Not only did he dominate JDM, but he became the 11th fighter to claim a belt in another division. Now that I’ve seen the Death Vader of the UFC smash a man, we can only hope that next year we get another super match between Makhachev and another opponent. The rumors are out that it could be Kamaru Usman, which would be fantastic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Morales gets the bid. Until then, let’s all hail Lord Makhachev as the best fighter in the world. SMESH!